He’s been associated with a spoken word AM radio station associated with CBS Radio since it purchased the property in 1932 from General Mills. Now, he has officially retired from the property that is today owned by Soros Fund Management-controlled Audacy Inc.
Denny Long‘s tenure extends back to August 16, 1971, and with the conclusion of the Smart Garden Radio Hour on Saturday morning (5/30), he formally concluded his time with WCCO-AM in Minneapolis.
Long co-hosted the show with Julie Weisenhorn, and the two had been paired since 2013. However, he was first brought to the station in its Full Service years as Music Director. In a WCCO interview, he said, “I think initially when when I first got hired, I walked through those doors, I was working at a radio station that had maybe 15 people. But it took me two weeks to get introduced to all the staff, 100 and some people at ‘CCO Radio back then. And it still amazes me, we had a receptionist 24/7 back then … 24/7! Just meeting all these people, great people, great voices, and then seeing all the stars, the authors, TV people, you name it, they were coming in and out of that door so often, it was quite impressive.”
Initially, Long was interested in a career in law enforcement. “I ended up a radio, volunteered at the University of Minnesota radio station, and got the bug from there. And the rest, as they say, is history,” he recalled. Early stints involved radio stations in Webster City, Iowa, and Owatonna, Minn. From 1967 until joining WCCO Radio, he was an air personality at Twin Cities station KRSI.
When Full Service radio began to fade, WCCO Radio stuck with the formula until the 1990s. With no need for a MD, Long shifted to a “help radio” host role. He also voiced newscasts and commercials, too.
With reduction-in-force initiatives being seen across the radio industry due to challenging financial portraits, Long made it clear that his departure is due to “a medical diagnosis” that prevents him from crossing the 55-year anniversary date in August. “You know what they say, life happens when you’re making other plans, and indeed. So, it’s unfortunate, but I think, with a little bit of good luck and good medical treatment, we’re going to be OK,” he told WCCO.
Long’s tenure is the second-longest at WCCO Radio. Sid Hartman spent 65 years at the station.
